Zelensky pays tribute to "courage" of U.S. journalist killed in Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to slain American journalist Brent Renaud in a statement to his family on Monday.

Driving the news: Zelensky, who personally wrote Renaud's family to express his "heartfelt condolences" after the documentary filmmaker was killed by Russian troops, described the 50-year-old as a "talented and brave journalist."

What he's saying: "Brent lost his life while documenting human tragedy, devastation and suffering of the millions of Ukrainians," Zelensky said of Renaud, who was from Arkansas.

• "With all his courage and determination, he traveled to the most dangerous war zones to film the unprecedented ruthlessness and evil, also inflicted upon our nation by the aggressor state."
• Zelensky added that Ukrainians, "who are fighting against the Russian regime to defend their homeland and democracy in the world, are mourning with you."

The big picture: Renaud's vehicle came under heavy gunfire at a checkpoint outside Kyiv, according to the AP.

• The documentarian was accompanied by fellow American journalist Juan Arredondo, who was also shot but survived.
• In 2013, Renaud won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University journalism award for “Arming the Mexican Cartels."

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